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Project management practices are increasingly important to organisations across a range of sectors. Projects are the main vehicles by which organisations (public and private) embark on deliberate and proactive strategic change. This course will explore the practicalities of managing projects from a value creation and lifecycle perspective.

Option to students on: Management/Management (Specialism), IM, IMABS and ITMB.

Option to students on: Management/Management (Specialism) and IM.

 

The unit aims to develop students’ foundational knowledge of project management principles – concepts, processes, tools and techniques – and practices enabling them to shape and deliver projects in a range of organisational contexts through individual and group activities. 

Syllabus

• Introduction: Projecting the future
• Selecting and Defining the Project
• Leading and assembling the project team
• Project execution planning (part 1)
• Project execution planning (part 2)
• Managing uncertainty and complexity
• Defending project value 
   

The unit consists of 21 hours of lectures and 9 hours of group tutorials. During the lecture sessions, we build on the self-study readings and explore key project management concepts, processes, tools and techniques which can be used in practice to support project management activities. During the 9 hours of group tutorials, we review progress on the team work assignment and provide formative feedback. Throughout the unit we bring theory to life using real -world examples and application activities, which we discuss during the scheduled sessions. We use a combination of teaching and assessment approaches to enable students' learning. These include interactive sessions, application exercises, pre-session quizzes, group work, group tutorials and an individual assignment which has been designed for students' learning. There is a high level of integration across the lectures, tutorials and assessments. Students are expected to come prepared to each session, actively participate and productively engage in the assigned work.

• Describe and explain the relevance of projects and their management to organisations. 
• Recognize and distinguish the role of commercial and contract management within the management of projects. 
• Identify and apply relevant principles, processes, tools and techniques for managing projects within a commercial environment. 

• Apply independently and collectively relevant project and commercial management principles, processes, tools and techniques.
• Critically examine and evaluate project situations and associated issues and make recommendations for improvement. 
• Work in a team to prepare, plan and produce essential documentation relevant for managing projects. 

• Develop and evaluate project management related report.
• Recognise, apply and evaluate project management tools, techniques. 
• Recognise, apply and evaluate project management principles, concepts and process. 

• Deploy a range of organisational and managerial skills, such as: team work and collaboration; communication (listening, written, verbal) skills; time management and organisation; problem solving; conflict management and negotiation; leadership and decision making; strategic thinking, digital literacy and reflective practice. 
• Demonstrate personal qualities, such as intrinsic motivation, personal development, initiative, creativity.
• Demonstrate research, analysis and information literacy
• Demonstrate analytical, critical and reflective thinking, and problem-solving abilities 
   

Formative Assessment

• Group work assignment task progress

Summative Assessment

• Coursework (50%)
• Individual Slide Cast (50%) 
   

For semester 1 only exchange students admitted via the Placement and International Programmes Office that take this course as BMAN20951 the assessment will be Group Work (50%) and individual slide cast (50%). 

Formative feedback is designed to help you improve your work, this feedback does not contribute to your final grade. This will be provided as the course progresses through: a) In class workshop discussions andreview of application exercises, feedback will be shared with the whole class in plenary format; b) Group tutorials to review and discuss progress on the group assignment; c) Responses to student emails and discussion forum posts; d) During office hours. Summative feedback will be provided alongside marks for pieces of assessment. Written comment will be provided to help you identify areas of improvement for you in future assessments and why the final mark was awarded for this coursework. Summative feedback will be provided on Canvas within 15 working days of the final submission deadline. A working day is defined as Monday to Friday, not including bank holidays and excluding student vacation periods and University examination periods.

Methods of Feedback from Students/Course Evaluation
Students are encouraged to offer constructive feedback on the course either through blackboard discussion board, e-mail to the course coordinator, during office hours or via the student representative. Changes have been made to the course based on valuable student feedback. In addition to the central unit evaluation questionnaire, students are encouraged to provide feedback on the course as it proceeds.

Reading List

Core text : TBC

Supplementary Texts:

• Clegg, S. Skyttermoen, T. and Vaagaasar, A.L. (2024). Project Management: Creating sustainable value. 2nd ed. SAGE.
• Larson, E.W. , Gray, C.F. Sirisomboonsuk, P. (2024) Project Management: A socio-tTechnical approach. New York: McGraw Hill.
• Winch, G., Maytorena E. and Sergeeva, N. (2022) Strategic Project Organising. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Maylor, H. and Turner, N. (2022) Project Management. 5th ed. Pearson.
• Pinto, J. (2020). Project Management Achieving Competitive Advantage. 5th edition. Pearson.
• Meredith, J.R., Shafer, S.M. and Mantel, S.J., (2021) Project Management a managerial approach. 11th ed. Wiley.
• Meredith, J. R. and Shafer, S.M. (2020) Project Management in Practice. 7th ed. Wiley.
• Brown, K. and Hyer, N. (2010) Managing Projects: A Team-Based Approach. International edition. McGraw Hill.
• Lowe, D. and Leiringer, R. (2006) Commercial management of projects: Defining the discipline. Blackwell Publishing.
• Lowe, D., (2013) Commercial management theory and practice. Wiley-Blackwell.

The following journals are also useful sources:

• International Journal of Project Management (IJPM)
• Project Management Journal (PMJ)
• International Journal of Managing Projects in Business (IJMPB)
• Project Leadership and Society
• PM network
• Project
• Harvard Business Review
• MIT Sloan Management Review.

Information

Other staff involved: N/A

Pre-requisites: N/A

Co-requisites: N/A

Dependent course units: N/A

Programme Restrictions: Available only to Management/Management (Specialism) and International Management.